John Carpenter, president of Caterpillar Forest Products, has been elected chairman of the Tropical Forest Foundation.љ Carpenter has served as vice president on the TFF board since 2007.

Caterpillar has been involved with the Tropical Forest Foundation (TFF) since its formation in 1990.љ TFF is an association of leaders of industry, science, education and conservation working together to address the growing concern for the protection of tropical forests.љ The primary mission is to promote sustainable forest management as the best way to preserve the renewable resources and natural habitats of tropical forests.љ The group's goal is to make sure that harvesting is being done in the best manner for long-term sustainability, and ensuring preservation of the natural resources in specific regions, and provide a mechanism to ensure legal logging practices are used.љ

Past chairmanships typically came from the industry and conservation sectors.љ Carpenter feels a representative from the manufacturing sector brings a significant benefit.љ "The harvesting process begins with heavy equipment in the forest and mechanization is growing each year", said Carpenter.љ "It's important for manufacturers to design harvesting equipment with reduced impact features in mind.љ We need to make sure communities that depend on the forests are aware that we are committed to preserving their environment, and are investing in equipment designs to do just that."

One of Carpenter's goals is to increase awareness of the foundation's worldwide efforts and gain sponsorships to support expansion of sustainable forest management programs in tropical regions worldwide.љљ A new website was recently launched by TFF that includes an easy to use contributor application.љ

Visit www.tropicalforestfoundation.org.